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21-32　Sol Drake Ruins

On the morning of January 9th, Jin, Reinhardt, Elsa, and Reiko were invited to the Magical Research Laboratory housed within the Outer Palace—an institution led by the Minister of Magic, Kerihidore, and the foremost research facility in the Kingdom of Egelea.

“Here, this is what I wanted you to see.”

What awaited them was a Magic Projection Window—Magic Screen, the same type of ancient artifact once used as a monitor during the golem boat races.

“You recreated a Magic Projection Window, Magic Screen…?”

“Recreated, yes, though it feels presumptuous to call it that.”

Kerihidore answered humbly, though his proud expression betrayed him.

“It’s still a prototype, but we sent one with the investigation team exploring the former Leonard Kingdom.”

He pointed to the screen.

It indeed showed a scene from a distant location—but the image was blurry and the movement choppy, like a film missing frames.

“There are still many issues to solve, but the greatest advantage is that the Magic Eye portion—the magical machine acting as the camera—can now be much smaller.”

The minister explained further.

“It’s light enough to carry on the shoulder. The drawback is that the projection unit here, the Magic Screen, had to be made larger.”

Even so, being able to observe a remote investigation team in real time was an impressive step forward.

Unfortunately, it could not transmit sound.

“If they need to send a message from their side, they can write it and show it to the camera. But we still cannot contact them from here. That’s the one regret.”

Even so, this advancement was remarkable. Using an ancient artifact as a reference, the lost technology was now partially revived—an achievement worthy of praise.

“I don’t dare give it the same name as the original artifact. I thought to call it the Magical Monitoring Device—Magi Monitor.”

“Magi Monitor… I see.”

Jin nodded and examined the device carefully.

“Lord Jin, do you have any thoughts?”

“Well…”

His thoughts were, in truth, numerous.

The choppy images came from insufficient data transfer speed.

The poor clarity from the low polishing quality of the Magic Eye’s lenses.

And the unwieldy size of the device likely stemmed from inefficiencies in its magic sequence structure.

But Jin understood that pointing all this out at once would be… diplomatic suicide.

So he chose one gently phrased suggestion:

“As for the image quality… it may be due to the polishing accuracy of the Magic Eye being too low.”

“Hmm… polishing accuracy… Yes, now that you mention it, several things fit.”

Kerihidore pressed a hand to his chin thoughtfully, then nodded.

“Indeed, thank you, Lord Jin. I shall refine that aspect for the next model.”

“Yesterday, the investigation team reached the ruins called Sol Drake. Today marks the beginning of their full exploration.”

As he said this, the Magic Screen indeed displayed the unfamiliar ruins.

＊　　＊　　＊

《Sol Drake Ruins》

The Sol Drake ruins lay southwest of the old capital, Diaa.

The surrounding land was a field dotted with reddish-brown rock outcroppings.

Although north of Egelea’s current capital Asunt, it sat at lower elevation, making the temperature nearly the same.

Because the sea was nearby, the air was more humid than inland Asunt, allowing vegetation to grow thickly.

The investigation team had carved a narrow trail through this terrain as they advanced.

“Master Jade, begin the assessment.”

The team leader, Bruno Tares Bright, gave the order.

Jade Nefroy, a certified Magic Craftsman, stepped forward.

“Yes, leave it to me.”

Before them stood a structure resembling a fortress, built of reddish sandstone.

Such ruins often housed magical seals or traps—hence the need for Jade’s expertise.

He had already disabled four traps the previous day before reaching this final door…but daylight had run out.

And so the exploration continued today.

After a careful examination of the door, Jade turned around.

“…No traps. Only a sealing lock. I can remove it shortly.”

True to his word, the door opened after only a few minutes.

“It opened!”

“There may still be traps inside. Proceed with caution.”

“Understood.”

Bruno entered first. Jade, the noncombatant, took the rear.

It was 8:00 a.m. local time, or 7:15 a.m. in Asunt.

Inside—

“Hooh…”

A voice—no one knew whose—escaped in awe.

The interior was lined floor to ceiling with stone polished like marble, gleaming under the light of their magic lamps.

“This will help.”

Jade cast a Light Ball spell.

A globe of light formed, illuminating the room far brighter than any lamp.

“It’s so bright now…”

The brightness was akin to switching from a 20-watt bulb to a 100-watt one.

The large hall came into full view—ten meters wide, twenty meters deep. Empty.

“Is that something?”

In the corner, a mound of rubble—or so it seemed.

Approaching revealed a pile of low-grade magic crystals, stacked nearly to eye level.

“A door straight ahead.”

“Let’s check it.”

This door opened easily.

Beyond it stretched a stairway descending into darkness.

“A basement. Likely the main structure.”

Bruno left the youngest knight behind.

“Taut, stay here. If anything happens to us, you know what to do.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The order was clear: do not rescue us—report to the king.

Even young Taut understood that much.

The stairs extended twenty meters underground, ending at another door, then a small cramped room—less than five tatami mats in size—three meters high.

“Another door…”

This one was barred from the inside. Bruno removed the heavy latch carefully.

Beyond it was an identical small room—and then another.

After three such chambers, they reached…

A vast hall.

Filled with—

“Th… this is…?”

“…Golems…?”

Hundreds of them.

Each 2.5 meters tall.

Shells forged of steel.

Armed with swords, spears, maces, axes.

They numbered over five hundred, standing in formation across the chamber.

Everyone present—Bruno’s entire team (except Taut) and all those watching from afar through the Magi Monitor: Jin, Reinhardt, Elsa, Reiko, Minister Kerihidore, and the researchers—stared in stunned silence.